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Research is important because unless you make the effort to do it, you will always be
"taking your chances" to some extent. You'll never know if other people are
having problems with the vendor you selected. You'll never be sure if that great deal you
found really is a great deal.

Fortunately, there are a number of different tools that you can use, online and off, to
help you determine whether the purchase you are considering is likely to be a good
experience or a bad one.

In this section, I will provide some ideas to help you do your own research into
vendors and component and system prices. I will discuss different resources that are
available to you for doing research, and how to use them effectively.